


Cadence

by flootzavut



Category: NCIS
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Boxing & Fisticuffs, F/M, Humour, Kibbs, Romance, Team Bonding, UST, WIP, background McNozzo bickering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 15:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11338434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flootzavut/pseuds/flootzavut
Summary: "Who dreamt up this stupid ass idea for team bonding anyway?" Gibbs grumbled as he turned back to her.Gibbs and ballroom dancing, it turned out, did not get along so well...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I shamelessly stole the idea for this from NCIS: Los Angeles :D
> 
> Rating potentially subject to change...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that it's yet another story with a ridiculously short first chapter. It's just the way the cookie crumbles...

* * *

_**Cadence** _

* * *

 

"How come I have to dance with the probie and you get Kate?"

"You'd give Kate a reason to shoot you in less than a minute, and _I'm_ sure as hell not dancin' with you."

Kate bit her lip not to laugh at Tony and Gibbs bickering. It was hilarious, but she really didn't want to get in the middle of it, didn't want Gibbs to maybe decide he'd make her dance with Tony after all.

"Who dreamt up this stupid ass idea for team bonding anyway?" Gibbs grumbled as he turned back to her.

Gibbs and ballroom dancing, it turned out, did not get along so well. He wasn't actually bad at it, not by a long shot, but clearly he was hating every second.

She pressed her lips firmly together and tried to assume a suitably sympathetic expression. "I know."

He looked down at her. "You realise I can tell when you're humouring me, right?" He sounded resigned more than pissed, and she giggled. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, let's get on with it."


	2. Chapter 2

Forty-five minutes later, the waltz was starting to feel more natural and less like a method of torture. They were actually doing pretty well, Kate thought, and so far she was managing not to say or do anything to embarrass herself.

"Now, since you've picked this up fairly quickly, I think it's time to try the proper ballroom hold." Their instructor was annoyingly perky and enthusiastic, behaving as if they were all here by choice, not under protest.

Kate was finding it grating. Judging by his expression, Gibbs was one cheery  _bon mot_  away from going for his gun.

At least they were doing better than the guys. Tim looked decidedly set upon, Tony looked mutinous, and both of them had been complaining every time the music was switched off about getting their toes trodden on. It didn't help that neither of them was happy to follow the other's lead.

Kate felt pretty smug until the teacher took over from Gibbs and demonstrated the ballroom hold with her. She grew more and more alarmed as he tugged her close to his body, prodding and pulling until she was in something approaching the correct posture.

It took all her willpower not to make some comment, or possibly just give in to the urge to take his legs out from under him and pin him to the floor with a handgun pressed to his temple. Her torso was flush against his from rib cage to crotch; she'd had dates with less shared intimacy.

She had to dance with Gibbs holding her this way? Maybe she would've been better off dancing with Tony after all. Tony she'd happily knee in the crotch. About the only consolation was that this torture was probably going to be visited on her teammates, too, and she suspected it would be extremely entertaining.

It was admittedly also very amusing watching the teacher attempt to demonstrate the hold on Gibbs.

Presumably the guy was used to dancing the female role as well as the male, but when he sauntered up to Gibbs, cheesy smile in place, he was treated to a glare that would've stopped a basilisk in its tracks.

"I saw what you did."

Side-stepping the teacher, Gibbs approached her, and Kate fought back the urge to beat a swift retreat.  _That scowl isn't aimed at you_ , she assured herself, hoping very much that she was right.

With more grace and assurance than she'd expected, he stepped into her space, his right hand firm along her shoulder blade, his left held out to form his half of the frame. She got the distinct impression he'd done this before, even after all his kvetching about it. He had seemed to pick up the steps faster than expected. Maybe one of his wives had insisted...

There really wasn't any way out of it, and she placed her hand in his, laid the other on his shoulder, trying to ignore the unhelpful voices in her head that were pointing out she really shouldn't have worn a strappy top today (and definitely shouldn't have stripped off her shirt to dance), and speculating whether she'd seen his gun or badge in his pocket and what else might get pressed up against her. For her own sanity, she chose to assume it was his sidearm, and forced her brain to concentrate instead on keeping her back straight and her shoulders relaxed. The instructor poked and pulled again and now Kate would've been tempted to roll her eyes if she hadn't been in such an unfamiliar and potentially compromising position.

Gibbs chuckled, and she glanced up at him. He was smiling, and although she wasn't certain why, she was oddly sure he wasn't laughing  _at_  her. If anything, on another man she might read his expression as almost... appreciative.

She could feel her cheeks turning pink and an unintentional smile on her own face, and was really quite relieved when the music started again and she had something else to concentrate on.


	3. Chapter 3

The whole dancing thing would have been considerably less embarrassing, Kate thought, if she hadn't spent the entire time with her face various shades of pink and red, and Gibbs smirking at her a little too often for comfort. But now they were done - temporarily - she was rather enjoying the show. Watching Tim and Tony fight over who got to be the man and who had to follow the other's lead almost made up for her own humiliation. And at least she and Gibbs hadn't been actively bad at it, unlike the boys.

Having teased a passable waltz out of them, their teacher had clapped his hands, tried to get high fives out of them both (it had been rather amusing to see his face fall at the double dose of 'are you  _kidding_  me?' face to which she and Gibbs had treated him), threatened them with the foxtrot (Kate was sure he hadn't meant it as a threat, but...) and turned to the chuckle brothers.

She took a swig from her bottle and swallowed it fast. She was a little concerned Gibbs was going to murmur some humorous comment in her ear when she had a mouthful of water and she'd end up choking to death. Being allowed to sit out for a while had resurrected his sense of humour, and although it wasn't a side of him she got to see particularly often, she enjoyed it when she did. She still didn't want to die from it.

He nudged her in the ribs and shot her a sly smile before turning back to the McNozzo themed entertainment, and she couldn't help a grin of her own which wasn't entirely at their expense. She wasn't convinced of the value of this circus as it pertained to their jobs, but Gibbs was pretty good company when he wasn't wound up in a case and especially when he was amused. If for nothing else, today's activity had been worth it for that.

"Okay, guys, now let's try the foxtrot!"

Gibbs groaned under his breath as the instructor's enthusiasm was aimed back their way, but he got to his feet and held out a hand to Kate in an almost courtly manner, even if he did have one eyebrow raised.  _Don't read too much into it_ , she warned herself, but all the same, she couldn't quite tamp down her grin. Yeah. She liked this version of Gibbs, probably a bit more than she should.

 _Oh well_.  _Might as well enjoy it while it lasts_.


	4. Chapter 4

"Good job today, Kate."

Kate swung round from the locker, startled. "I thought this was a waste of your time?" Even as it popped out, she realised it wasn't an especially gracious response to what was bordering on a compliment, not something she ever took for granted from Gibbs.

He was lounging against the wall looking typically inscrutable. He shrugged a shoulder, the corner of his mouth twitching in a way that instantly made her suspicious. "Don't mean you weren't good at it."

She blinked. "Oh. Okay. Thank you."

He reached over and tugged the corner of her collar out from where it was caught under her sweater. "Welcome."

Usually this would call for some snappy retort, or maybe, if she was feeling more than usually generous, an acknowledgment that he also hadn't totally sucked, but she was back in the sneakers she usually wore to the gym; suddenly being a couple of inches shorter without her heels, and remembering being clasped so close to his body, she just felt... small and shy and other things she didn't especially appreciate feeling. "Thanks." She was beginning to blush again, and when she glanced up, Gibbs was looking at her intently, with a half smile she couldn't make sense of.

Eventually his grin widened a little, he brushed his knuckles against her cheek (to her amazement) and murmured, "See you Monday," then turned and strode away without another word.

Kate closed her eyes (and her mouth, when she realised her jaw was on her chest), shook her head, and turned back to her locker. Making sense of Gibbs was a job for a day when she was less tired and hadn't spent the whole afternoon attempting to foxtrot and waltz in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate laid her gun down and took off her ear protectors as her paper enemy moved steadily toward her. The shooting range was an oddly reassuring place to be, especially after being pushed way too far out of her comfort zone yesterday.

She knew with a pleasant certainty that she'd hit the target dead on with every bullet, even before she got to visually confirm. She reached out to unclip it, then leaned on the side of the booth and grinned down at it, admiring her handywork. This, she could do. Without even making an idiot of herself.

"Nice shootin', Kate." His words and the hands landing on her shoulders were the only warning she got that Gibbs had crept up behind her. "Still could relax more." He squeezed gently and she bit her tongue in case she accidentally made some snarky comment about having your boss creeping up on you when you had a gun close to hand, and how it wasn't very relaxing, actually. Or worse, let out a grateful moan because of the massage. She really enjoyed a bit more than was wise how casually physical he was with her at times. Especially when there was no DiNozzo hanging around to tease her about it.

"But..." He leaned over her shoulder to inspect the target more closely, and she blinked at his proximity. "Yeah. You did good."

She looked at him sideways, unsure how to respond to another actual compliment, especially since his hands were still lightly kneading her muscles, and particularly since it felt really nice.

"Thanks," she managed. Okay, she was monosyllabic again, despite being on far more familiar and comfortable ground. Really, it wasn't fair.

Gibbs nodded, smiled, squeezed her shoulders one last time, then moved into the stall next door.

She let out a big breath, gave herself a shake, trying not to be put absolutely off balance by his sudden appearance or the easy way he'd invaded her space again. Did having your irritatingly attractive (and just plain irritating) boss in the next stall count as practice firing under pressure?

If it didn't, well... it really should. She wondered if he'd ever made out with anyone at a firing range, and whether he'd consider trying, then cursed herself for even thinking it and turned back to her gun.


End file.
